Food bank to revamp orchard by planting new variety of apple trees

Friday

New apple trees will be planted in ceremonies and work scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. today at South Plains Food Bank's apple orchard at 56th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Horticulturist Ashley Basinger secured 40 apple trees in a grant she wrote to Dreyer's Fruit Bars last year on behalf of the food bank.

"We are basically needing to revamp the orchard," she said. "It's pretty old, and some varieties in there are getting some disease problems. So, we wanted to start bringing in some things that have bred-in resistance to our disease problems."

The new apple tree variety, called Enterprise, is a red apple she describes as rounder than a red delicious apple.

The project is a test, as well as a possible replacement for the aging trees in the orchard.

"It is going to be one that's hardy to the diseases, but it also is coming off later than our other apples. We are trying to promote more apples for the Christmas boxes, and it has been hard for us to hold our apples long enough for the boxes. So, this will help toward that."

The Enterprise apples typically are ripe in the second or third week of October.

"It is a test to see if it does well in Texas," Basinger said. "That's our biggest challenge - finding a variety that can withstand our crazy weather."

The tree planting is provided by the Dreyer's Fruit Bars grant, in partnership with the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation, and the work will be assisted by representatives of South Plains Food Bank.

Tenaya Wickstrand, an account executive representing Dreyer's, said the project is called Communities Take Root. "This is our second year of doing it. In 2010, we planted 25 orchards all over the U.S."

The fruit plants can also be other types of apples, as well as peaches, citrus and blueberry bushes.

It all depends on the environment, according to Wickstrand.

Basinger said future plantings at the orchard may be made available for families to dedicate as a memorial.

To comment on this story:

ray.westbrook@lubbockonline.com • 766-8711

leesha.faulkner@lubbockonline.com • 766-8706

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